Improvement in railroad-switches for street-cars



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN A. HEYL, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N o. 53,822, dated April 10, 1866.

To all whom t 'may concern Be it known that I, JOHN A. HEYL, of the city of Boston, in the county of Snolk and State of Massachusetts, have inventedanew and useful Improvement in Self-Acting Switches for Horse-Railroads, which I now proceed to describe.

Figure l represents a perspective view of the whole. Fig. 2 represents a detached sectional view of the grooved wheel and levers.

The same parts are indicated by the same letters in bot-h drawings.

A A are two frogs or stationary points in the place ot' a movable switch. (Patent of October S, 1861, No. 2,430, called self-acting horse-railroad switches.) Between said two frogs lies the curved iron B, which is raised a little above the ordinaryv track or rails, and is rounding on the upper surface.

C is a wheel a little smaller than .the carwheels, with a double flan ge or a -groove on its periphery, so as to lit on the curved iron B. Said wheel C is attached to the car-axles between the wheels, and slides from left to right, and vice versa, in a given space, which movement is performed through the agency of the levers f and e and the flange-wheel d, attached to the above-mentioned wheel O. Between -said ange-wheel d and the grooved wheel C is left a space, in which works one end of the lever j', which is fastened horizontally to the bottom of the car, and is operated by the forked lower extremity of lever e, which projects vertically through the platform, and is also fastened by a pivot, and can easily be managed by the driver.

The foregoing operates as follows: If it is required to turn or switch the caroff its straight course the driver moves the lever e, the lower end of which, being' connected with the lever if, operates on the same, which said. lever j, working with its forked end between the tlan gewheels C and d, will slide the grooved wheel O in position to run onto the curved iron B, thereby guiding the car to the other track. It' the car is desired to pass on its straight course the driver moves the levers e andj', and thereby the wheel O, into a central position, thereby passing and avoiding the curved iron B.

The aforesaid wheels C and d and the levers e and j' are attached to both ends ot' the car, but only the forward one is to be operated.

I claim- The arrangement of the double-lian ged wheel O and attached wheel d, operated by levers c and f, upon and inl combination with the axles of a car, as described, and operated with the said douhledianged Wheel astride ot' the guiderail, substantially as described.

JOHN A. HEYL.

In presence ot'- W. P. WALLEY, G. C. ToBEY. 

